Geek and Thief Come Face to Face Thanks to ‘Find My iPhone’

A LiveJournal blogger tells the first riveting tale involving Find My iPhone, a new feature in the latest iPhone 3.0 operating system designed to help users recover their lost or stolen iPhones.

Kevin Miller, who goes by the LJ handle HappyWaffle, recounts his experience quite thoroughly. In summary: After attending Brickworld, the world’s largest Lego convention, Kevin and his friends end up at a dive bar in uptown Chicago, where he accidentally (and perhaps drunkenly) leaves his iPhone. They return to the bar to recover it, but the iPhone is apparently in the hands of an individual who still subscribes to the philosophy of “Finders, Keepers.”

The group proceeds to use a MacBook Pro and Sprint wireless EVDO card to log in to Apple’s MobileMe internet service, where a map spits out the location of the iPhone. From thereon, the story gets exciting: The trio of “skinny white guys” stumbles into a Puerto Rican neighborhood. (He notes that he brings up race only to illustrate that he and his friends stood out awkardly.) Kevin uses MobileMe to send messages to his phone requesting it be returned.

Then, in a dramatic turn of events, the dot on the map begins to move, and the group follows it. After a game of refresh-the-map-and-chase, they eventually come face to face with the thief, and he sheepishly hands it over.

Amusing tale, though we’re not very thrilled about the idea that Find My iPhone is conducive to confrontation, as demonstrated by Kevin. The outcome could have been far different had the thief been armed.

What are your thoughts about Find My iPhone and how it was used in this particular story? Any suggestions for how this feature can be used more prudently? Add your comments below.